Mike Cash wrote:Have any of you ever had the fun of watching the reactions of Japanese when you bite into an apple?

Ain't it the truth? They freak out when you eat the whole grape as well without spitting out the skin.

And then the Japanese laugh at gaijins who try and eat the entire ednomame, pod and all, like a sno-pea. First time I did this I was taken aside by a very kind Japanese man, and given a lesson in how to eat them. He saved me a whole lot of embarrassment.

Mike Cash wrote:Have any of you ever had the fun of watching the reactions of Japanese when you bite into an apple?

Ain't it the truth? They freak out when you eat the whole grape as well without spitting out the skin.

And then the Japanese laugh at gaijins who try and eat the entire ednomame, pod and all, like a sno-pea. First time I did this I was taken aside by a very kind Japanese man, and given a lesson in how to eat them. He saved me a whole lot of embarrassment.

Reminds me of the first time I had an artichoke. Our highschool French class took a field trip to the CIA (the Culinary Institute of America, not the other one). I'd never had one before and I tried to eat the whole thing, not knowing that you only eat a teeny little bit. Very embarrasing.

Dehitay wrote:Out of curiosity, does anybody know how Italians eat pizza? Technically, that should be the correct way.

Never thought about it.

I personally reject the notion of there being a "correct" way of eating any particular food. To me the correct way is whatever the person paying for it thinks it is. But that is probably born of annoyance with foreigners with something to prove attempting to turn my meal into a culture lesson.

Mike Cash wrote:Have any of you ever had the fun of watching the reactions of Japanese when you bite into an apple?

Ain't it the truth? They freak out when you eat the whole grape as well without spitting out the skin.

They skin their grapes? Is it the same for apples?

From what I'm told, the skin on the grapes in Japan is significantly thicker than the grapes in the US. Since it's rough to chew, it's become a habit not to eat the skins. Actually, I think it's a habit in Japan not to eat the skins of any fruit; or at least I don't know of a fruit where the skin isn't avoided.

Maybe it's just wherever you're all from, I've seen plenty of people eating pizza with a knife and fork in the UK and in Germany.

As for hot chips, it's normal in this country at least, to eat them with a fork if they are covered in gravy, as in the sort you buy from a fish and chip shop.

As for pizza, when deep pan pizzas became available, it was considered customary to eat them with a knife and fork. In fact, we were always provided with cutlery if we dined in at a Pizza Hut. But these days, most people eat them with their fingers. (Their own fingers